1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a mailbox support post such as a post employed for a rural mailbox and, more specifically, it relates to such a post having ground engaging fins projecting outwardly from a lower portion of the support post.
2. Description of Background Art
It has been known in connection with rural type mailboxes which tend to be positioned adjacent to a road to provide a support post which is inserted into the ground and has a mounting arm secured to an upper portion of the post. A rural mailbox overlies and is supported by and secured to the mounting arm in such a manner that the hinged door which provides access to the mailbox interior faces the road.
The fabricated mailbox support posts are generally hollow, circular or square, tubular metal posts which may be a single, one-piece tube assembled from two or more tube components joined to each other. It has also been known to employ wooden or plastic posts for such purposes.
It is important that the mailbox supporting post be firmly anchored with a generally vertical orientation so as to support the weight of the mailbox as well as contents that may be placed therein and to resist movement when forces are applied to the mailbox door to open or close the same. Such posts are generally either inserted into the ground to a sufficient depth to establish the desired stability or may have stabilizing material such as gravel or concrete surrounding the post or posts anchor device provided under the surface of the soil. Such mailboxes also have to resist natural forces such as wind, rain and snow, any of which can tend to weaken the securement and move the mailbox support post out of its desired vertical orientation.
In spite of the known systems there remains a need for providing an enhanced means for stabilizing such mailbox support posts in order to provide more reliable structural performance.